I just realized I went through a whole phase, and forgot to post anything. I hired I guy with a track-hoe (aka excavator) to come in and make a mess of the forest floor (to compliment what Irene did to the forest canopy). His equipment is BIG and expensive. So he is not cheap. But wow! huge logs weighing 2000 lbs are easily moved from here to there as if they were match sticks.

At the end of two and half days I have 36 logs. More red oak than I thought and less other. I have painted all the ends with an exterior primer to seal them. I’m planning to paint each species a different color. So the red oak will be white, white oak probably orange (because I got a gallon of “oops” for $7), and I’m thinking I’ll color code any quarter-sawn logs specially. The problem is, the wood will probably end up mixed once it’s stickered and stacked. So by color-coding the ends I’ll be able to find what I need later. Maybe.

But today is sawmill day! More on that in the next post.

-- Some problems are best solved with an optimistic approach. Optimism shines a light on alternatives that are otherwise not visible.

Those are some great looking logs. We had massive wind damage last month and hope to end up with some lumber eventually, too. That track-hoe looks like it can make short work of moving those logs. We’re hoping to convince a neighbor to exchange help with his larger tractor for some lumber.

Your idea for color-coding the logs sounds great. Once the lumber is dry and gets stacked together and not necessarily sorted correctly, it would be nice to know which board to pull. All too often I have dug through a stack of lumber, taken out a few boards, then gotten them into better lighting only to find some were white and some red oak. Your idea is a great solution.